A SCHEME to encourage pupils to police their own playgrounds against bullying is being used by Welsh primary schools.

The schools taking part in the scheme, in Bridgend County Borough Council, have their own Playground Peacemakers.

They are specially trained students who have been given the skills to help deal with the problem of bullying at the schools.

Students are taught to act as peer mediators, who aim to understand conflict and use problem-solving skills to resolve clashes.

The scheme has been running for five years and has been evaluated by the On Track researchers at the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University and by the Bridgend Educational Psychology Service.

John Noaks, principle educational psychologist at Bridgend Council and Rob Barlow, the behaviour support teacher in Bridgend are among those who head the project.

Mr Noaks said, "A team of three people now have about half the primary schools in the borough running the programme. They are training people, it is a two-day training course for those students taking part.

"The scheme is based on work by Lorna Farrington, who was a head teacher in Plymouth.

"She developed the materials and has now retired from her job as head teacher and is an educational consultant promoting this scheme and healthy schools initiatives."

Mr Noaks said those wanting to become Playground Peacemakers are also given the chance to experience some things they would in the grown up world. They have to complete application forms, have references - it's preparation for real life situations," he said.

"The research into the programme shows significant changes in children being bullied in schools. They have spoken positively about the effects on the school and how it has impacted on their lives, not only in the classroom, but also at home.

"The scheme is targeted mainly at Key Stage Two, so the majority of mediators are in Year 5 and Year 6 but it has also been used in infant schools at Key Stage One as well.

"At each break period there is a rota for people who are trained and selected as mediators and very often they will wear luminous jackets similar to those worn by stewards at rugby and football matches.

"They are available for pupils to approach them if there are any incidents and they can then engage in a mediation with the pupils involved, hopefully bringing about a resolution to that problem. If there are issues that cannot be resolved, they would be referred to a member of staff.

A spokeswoman for Bridgend County Borough Council said, "The scheme works with pupils and staff, educating them about reducing conflicts in school."